Top Essays USB Drive

This USB drive contains 100 of the top This I Believe audio broadcasts of the last ten years, plus some favorites from Edward R. Murrow's radio series of the 1950s. It's perfect for personal or classroom use! Click here to learn more.

Bill Cosby once said, “Through hope, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find it, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it.” One may view life as a rollercoaster –bumpy, rigid, and hard-enduring. But without the will of trying to overcome dilemmas, there is no carrying on. Hope serves as a meal in many situations. It cures, heals and mends. For a star athlete, it may be for another win in the night’s game, it may serve as an A on a struggling student’s exam, or it may even be for love. This is the case for me. I believe in hope for love.

I have been with my boyfriend for about two years now. He is in the Army, and he is away a lot. Having a soldier as a boyfriend is difficult in many ways. He is currently deployed over seas and I have not seen him for seven months. Yet not seeing him everyday is not the hard part. The hardest thing I face each day is the worry of his safety –the worry for his life. So I surpass all these fears with the reassurance that he’ll call me tomorrow and everyday after that. I get there with hope.

Upon learning of his transition from being an Army Reservist to Active Duty Army, my heart sank to the ground. The person I loved was going to be sent to a war-torn country for over a year. Our relationship has been tested on many occasions. But through all the tribulations we’ve endured, this was different. This was the ultimate test. His leave was for four-hundred days. I used to count each day, but I eventually stopped doing that. I’ve conjured that if I didn’t count for a while, the next time I’d count, the number would be much greater. I tell myself every morning, “Each day he’s gone, is another day closer to us being back together again.”

One can say that being in this relationship is difficult for a person my age, when in all actuality, it has made me grow and mature in so many ways. I’ve learned to be patient, caring, and resilient. My hope for our love spirals out in many directions. And within this hope, comes the hope of safety, trust, faith and the hope in me –the hope that I am a strong lover.

Essay of the Week

On August 28, 1963, Benita Porter went with her mother to attend the March on Washington. It was during Dr. King’s spellbinding message of hope, love, and the universality of mankind that Ms. Porter was inspired by the belief that words—her own words—could arouse passion, change minds, and bring about social change. Click here to read her essay.

What Students Believe

Throughout the school year, young people around the world write statements of belief as a classroom exercise. And thousands of those students have submitted their essays to our series. Click here to read a sampling of what young people believe.